Tip: How to select your headphones - Poor to Comfy

Guide before summer holidays.

 Ground Rules:

1. There is no scientific definition of what a good set of headphones/ speakers are, because this is largely a matter of taste. However, there are some measurable specs that we can look at. Test before you buy if you can.
2. Different genres of music sound different on different sets. There is NOT one set that will play every genre at its best, but a decent set will give you dazzling performance for a few genres and a very good quality for the rest.
3. This is not the best guide available if you want the most detailed technical information, but it might be a helpful one if you don't give a rat's ass about all that geeky stuff, and just want your music to sound good.
4. I can comfortably say that there are no good sets below EGP 200-250, given that we're in 2013. This is already a very low minimum. A decent start point would be around EGP 500 or AED 200 if you're in UAE.

1- Frequency Response - Measured in Hertz (Hz):
Generally speaking, the larger the range, the better. A healthy human should be able to hear 20 Hz - 20,000 Hz. Audiophiles claim that they can hear/ feel a larger frequency range. My current headsets claim that range, I believe I heard better results from a set that claimed 12 Hz - 23,000 Hz. These numbers are most probably as good as the brand, so generic Chinese numbers don't mean anything except that maybe better Chinese numbers mean you're getting scammed for more.

2- Sound Pressure Level (SPL) - Measured in Decibel - (dB)
Simply speaking, this is how loud your set can go. The higher the figure the louder it is, notably before it starts clipping & booming.

3- Impedance - Measured in Ohm
This is the electrical impedance of the headset. Unless you're going for a full-blown Hi-Fi system, there isn't much that you can do about this. But if you are getting a headphones amplifier/ preamplifier, do your best to match

 4- Other gimmicks to look for:

• Cord length.
• Gold plated jacks.
• Carry Case.
• Sweat resistance if you're buying a sports set, like my Sennheiser MX 685 Sports Earbuds.
• If you're going over-the-ear, you should consider comfort.
• If you travel a lot and would want to pack your set, consider a fold-able design.

Recommendations:

1. In-ear: Sennheiser Adidas MX 685: great for walkers and thoae who jog/ get on public transportation.
2. On-ear: Creative HQ-1400 - cheapest okay set I have had.
3. Foldable: Sennheiser PX-200 - awesome sound' awesome value.
4. Open budget: Bose QuiteComfort 15 for noise cancellation and comfort.
5. The Parrot Zik set sounds great as well, so does the Sennheiser HD 598.

Watch out for iPhone/ Android label if the set you like has a mic. Also, I wanted to try B&W ( Bowers & Wilkins) set but it didn't work with my Android phone. Also I have had 2 sets from Philips before, one of which sounded great but both have a life time of 1 year. However CompuMe took them back since I was in warranty period.